State, local, and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials broke ground Monday morning on the $198 million northern half widening of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

“This stretch of I-476 between Mid-County and the Lansdale Interchange is the busiest four-lane section of highway across the entire Turnpike system, with average traffic exceeding 65,500 vehicles per day,” said PTC CEO Mark Compton.

“Traffic volumes are expected to surpass 100,000 vehicles per day by the year 2030, so this improvement project is vitally needed to accommodate increasing traffic,” he said.

The northern half widening is funded fully by turnpike toll revenues, and begins just south of Berks Road in Worcester Township at milepost 26, continuing north through Upper Gwynedd, Towamencin and Lower Salford townships.

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Throughout that area, the current turnpike will be widened from two to three lanes in both directions, and three new on/off slip ramps will be built connecting Sumneytown Pike and Towamencin Avenue directly to the turnpike, allowing some of the 10 million drivers that traverse the interchange each year to bypass the toll plaza.

During the construction project, the overhead bridges carrying Bustard Road and the Lansdale interchange ramp will be rebuilt to fit the widened roadway, similar to the already-completed bridge widening where Morris Road, Kriebel Road and Sumneytown Pike cross over the turnpike. The project also includes widening of six mainline bridges, where the turnpike itself crosses over Berks Road, Schultz Road, Valley Forge Road, Green Lane Road, Wambold Road and the Skippack Creek. Contractor Allan A. Myers of Worcester was awarded the contract for the project in late 2010 and work is expected to last until late 2016 - before PTC heads north toward Quakertown.

“The southern and northern section projects are significant because they represent the first total reconstruction on the Northeastern Extension since it opened in 1955,” said PTC Commissioner Pat Deon.

“But we’re not stopping here. Once we’ve completed this project, we’ll begin a similar reconstruction and widening to the north,” Deon said, with construction slated to start on widening between the Lansdale interchange and milepost 38 in 2017 and from there to the Quakertown interchange at milepost 44 after.

For more information visit www.PATurnpike.com and select “Construction Projects,” then “Milepost A20-31 widening.”